The World Will Keep Turning
by Dragoness of the Galaxy
Summary: Matt knew he would never have been able to impress him, anyways. And he was fine with that. But it wouldn't change the fact it hurt.


_"__Eric, he's only five, he wouldn't understand-!"_

_"__You told him what it meant, Marcy! He's too young to know about what being gay means!"_

Matt didn't want to go downstairs. Normally, the five year old would look for comfort in his mother if he couldn't sleep. His mom always sang to him or would read a book to him, though his dad didn't seem to pay attention to him. Matt never thought much on it; maybe he was tired.

But currently, their angery yells at each other sounded like two Mightyena who were fighting over the same territory. He didn't want to go down in the midst of it, scared that one of them would snap at him. He never heard his parents sound angry, and it scared him to hear them now.

He went back to his room—or rather, he scrambled—once he heard his father walking towards the stairs. He buried himself under the covers, pretending he was asleep. His door opened, and he heard his mother sigh as she peered in.

What none of them knew was that this was just the first of many nights filled with angered howls.

* * *

><p>Matt was now seven years old and attending school. He worked hard, not only for his mother, but to try and impress his dad, too. Maybe if he impressed him, his father would pay more attention to him.<p>

Yet no matter what he did—learned how to spell a big word, got a perfect score on a test—his father was never happy. That didn't stop Matt, though. He was going to impress his father, he knew that.

The nights were normally filled with his parents arguing. He didn't feel scared anymore when they did that. He learned to sleep through it, even on the nights where it seemed their screaming couldn't get any louder. Sometimes, he'd come home from school to hear them arguing about something else. Even when they went to family get-togethers during the holidays, both sides of the family would try to fix things between them, with him in the middle of it all.

"Aunt Gigi, why are mom and dad always mad at each other?" he asked one Thanksgiving while he was playing with his aunt's Houndoom.

"Well…your parents are going through a rough time, but they'll be resolved soon, don't you worry. Now, why don't you run off and go play with your cousins? I'm sure you would all be able to cause some trouble out of the kitchen."

Matt giggled and ran off with Houndoom to find his cousins. His aunt sighed; at seven years old, he was too innocent to ever understand what was actually going on. Maybe in a few years, things would be better, and they could pretend none of it ever happened.

She couldn't have been more wrong than that.

* * *

><p>Two years later, one night ended much differently than Matt could ever imagine.<p>

He was nine years old, two months before his tenth birthday, and he had been falling asleep to his parents screams as usual. It was about him, and he could tell; his name came up a few times.

_"__He's your son! You can't just ignore him for what he enjoys and how he is!"_

_"__I'm telling you, he's not normal!"_

_"__Eric!"_

_"__You know what? I'm sick of you!"_

Matt heard the front door slam. Climbing out of bed, he looked out of his window to see his father walking away from the house. It was silent downstairs. After a few minutes, he crept out to see his mother, sitting on the couch, tears streaming from her eyes as she looked at the front door.

He didn't know why she was crying, but all he knew was his mom was upset and she needed him. He climbed onto the couch and hugged her.

"Mom, why are you sad?" he asked. "Where did dad go?"

Marcy wiped at her face, turning to her son.

"Your father…had somewhere he needed to be. Come on, now, Matt, it's late."

As he followed her back up the stairs, he nervously tugged as her pant leg.

"Can I stay with you tonight, mom?" She smiled through her tears.

"Of course you can, sweetheart. I'd love that more than anything right now."

* * *

><p>"Matt? Matt, can you come down here for a moment?"<p>

"Coming!"

Matt ran down the stairs, eyes brightening when he saw his mom pulling out the flour, milk, and eggs. The pan she normally used for chocolate-based things was set out as well, which gave him all the clues he needed.

"Brownies!" he cheered. Marcy chuckled as he pulled over his stool and climbed up onto it to reach the kitchen counter. If there was anything that would excite Matt more than the thought of training his own Pokemon, it was the thought of baking or cooking. It was a shame his father never appreciated him for his talents or his personality. Speaking of his father…

"Matt, I have something I wanted to tell you," she started, knowing this subject was going to be difficult to explain.

"What is it?" Matt asked as he poured the milk into the measuring cup, careful not to spill it.

"Your father, as you know, hasn't really been around for a few months, and…" Marcy hesitated for a moment. "He and I have decided were going to get a divorce."

"A divorce?" Matt tilted his head, frowning. He had no idea what the word meant, but judging from his mother's tone, it didn't mean anything good. "Does that mean dad's not going to be here anymore?"

"Essentially," she replied. "See, your father and I aren't as happy as we once were, so…we thought it was best that we separate."

"Is that why you two were yelling at each other all the time?"

Marcy was shocked. Matt heard all of that?

"Matt, I'm sorry…" Marcy apologized. "I…I never meant for you to listen to those things your father said about you. I love you for you, and I'll never not love you."

"…It's okay, I guess…" Matt answered carefully. "If you were unhappy, and you said that people should do what makes them happy…then you'll both be happy now, right?"

"I…yes." Marcy nodded, smiling as her son smiled again, his bright, toothy grin the only thing mattering in her world at that moment. "We'll all be happy now."

* * *

><p>It had been a few years since the news of their divorce. Matt didn't see his father anymore. He guessed it was for the better; his father was never impressed anyways, and he only made his mother upset. Sure, he didn't have a father now, since his mother never remarried, but he was fine with that; he'd rather see his mother happy than have a father who made her unhappy.<p>

He was gone, now. Matt's life would go on, and he and his mother would be happy together with her side of the family. His father wouldn't have loved him, anyways. Nothing he did would have ever impressed him. And he was well aware of that as the world kept turning.

And maybe that was the part that hurt him the most.

* * *

><p><em>This giant marshmallow doesn't get enough love, so that's why this was made. This was based off of a headcanon posted to my tumblr, for those of you who follow me on there. Hopefully you enjoyed it!<em>


End file.
